Yet one aspect of the family togetherness caused some heartburn for Obama, in the wake of an interview conducted in Butte for the TV show “Access Hollywood.”
Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters were interviewed on the grounds of the World Museum of Mining, a couple of hours after they attended a Fourth of July picnic nearby.
In response, Obama (and the interviewer, Maria Menounos) said his daughters initially weren't supposed to be part of the interview and just ended up sitting down with their parents spontaneously. He also told NBC this week it was a mistake and that his kids won't be involved in any more interviews.
“I think we got carried away in the moment,” he said. “We were having a birthday party (for his 10-year-old daughter, Malia) and everybody was laughing. And suddenly this thing cropped up.”
As it happens, several Montana reporters were standing some 100 feet from the “Access Hollywood” interview, waiting for our chance to speak to Sen. Obama. We weren't paying that much attention to it, except that it appeared to run longer than expected. Obama then came over by himself to field a few questions from the local media.
My six-minute interview with Obama came a half-hour later, on a campaign bus. His staff ushered me into the back of the bus, where his wife and daughters, Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, were sitting as well.
Before I could sit down, Obama said we should move to the front section of the bus, because he didn't think his kids needed to listen to a political interview. We did so.
The campaign's Montana spokesman, Caleb Weaver, said Obama simply considered the trip to Montana a good opportunity for a family holiday. “It was his daughter's birthday, and they wanted to celebrate it together,” he said.
Regarding the politics of the campaign, an emerging narrative is the portrayal of Obama as a “flip-flopper.” National Republicans and the campaign of Republican candidate John McCain are furiously promoting this line, saying Obama has altered his position on things like the Iraq war, public campaign funds, a wiretapping bill and gun control.
For what it's worth, in my brief interview with Obama, he answered questions on several major issues in stark, direct terms that didn't leave much doubt as to where he stood.
He said on his first day in office, he'll call in military leaders and direct them on a “new mission”: ending the war in Iraq. He said next he'll embark on health care reform, to cover all citizens, and that it will include private insurance in the mix. He said he wants to revamp national energy policy, with huge investments in alternative energy and an emphasis on conservation.
Whether these and other statements square with Obama's record and previous statements will be fodder for the campaign in the months ahead.
Weaver says Obama's “approach and position on the major issues remains the same,” but that the candidate always has worked to build consensus.
As for the flip-flopper charge, it could just as easily be aimed at McCain - and has been, by his opponents and critical press accounts. They've noted that McCain has either changed or shifted his stands on the Bush tax cuts, immigration policy, banning torture of terror suspects and the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade abortion decision.
Tom Steward, a spokesman for the McCain campaign in St. Paul, Minn., says McCain is willing to look at key issues and consider the altered circumstances before making a call, and “not just stand pat.” For example, he now supports offshore oil exploration because the country needs domestic oil production, whereas earlier he had opposed it, Steward says.
Another reason Obama came to Montana is that his campaign believes he could actually win here in November and capture Montana's three electoral votes.
Conventional wisdom says an Obama victory here is a real long shot. But is it? Three days before he appeared in Butte, Rasmussen Reports, a national polling firm, released results showing Obama leading McCain in Montana, 48 percent to 43 percent, with 9 percent undecided.
Rasmussen conducts its polls electronically, with recorded telephone calls. Some may consider that method less than credible.
But the Rasmussen poll of 500 people in Montana didn't ask only about the presidential matchup - and the results on the other questions seem to square with political reality in Montana.
For example, President Bush's approval rating was
37 percent - higher than in most states and about the same as in other recent
polls - and the opinion on ending the Iraq war was evenly split.
Sixty-six percent said they favor allowing offshore oil exploration, which Obama opposes, and 69 percent said the federal government does not represent the will of the people. No surprise there.
Obama also has something in Montana that McCain does not: a professional campaign organization. The Obama campaign has paid staffers, offices and a campaign spokesman in the state.
The McCain campaign has no paid staffers, is relying on volunteers, and can't say whether it will have any paid staffers here. For now, McCain's campaign office in St. Paul, Minn., is covering north-central states, including Montana.
Might Montana become a “battleground state” in November? It seems unlikely, but in a close election, you never know.
Reporter Mike Dennison may be reached at (800) 525-4920 or (406) 443-4920 or by
e-mail at mike.dennison@lee.net.
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